5 most incredible discoveries of the week

Sep. 7, 2013
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A great white shark. / Discovery Channel

by Newser Editors, USATODAY

by Newser Editors, USATODAY

From fascinating discoveries related to the brain (both ours and that of a mouse) to watery reports that are alternately a little scary and very rewarding, it was a week filled with big finds:

1. Down syndrome 'reversed' in mice: Scientists say they've identified a molecule that "reverses" the effects of Down syndrome in mice. And while that molecule (neat name: sonic hedgehog pathway agonist) is not approved as safe for humans, what it did for newborn mice is pretty amazing.

2. Right- or left-brained? There's no such thing: If you've long lauded your powerful right brain for providing you with your artistic prowess, some University of Utah researchers have bad news for you: The whole right-brain/left-brain thing isn't true.

3. Shark taggers have scary news for beachgoers: Researchers who have tagged more than 100 great white sharks have discovered some surprising information about the predators' lifestyles, including the fact that they're a lot more fond of beaches than previously believed. But the researchers say that's actually a good thing.

4. Florida family makes $300K find: A 65-year-old Florida man has spent his life searching for treasure off the coast-and Rick Schmitt and his family have just made their biggest-ever discovery some 150 yards off the coast of Fort Pierce.

5. 320K unknown viruses lurk in mammals: An ambitious new study by some of the world's top virus experts estimates that at least 320,000 still-unidentified viruses are lurking out there among mammals-some presumably with the potential to jump from animals to humans. Researchers explain what we should do about it.

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